From a Right Without a Forum to a Forum Without Appellants: The First Year of the GST Appellate Tribunal

For eight years after GST began in 2017, taxpayers had a right of second appeal to a Tribunal that did not exist. The GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT) opened for online filing in September 2025 and began deciding cases in 2026. This article asks whether that turned a right on paper into a usable remedy. It argues that the Tribunal's absence was managed rather than cured. Filing deadlines were later rebuilt through executive orders, not legislation. And the predicted flood of appeals never came. Officials expected two to nearly five lakh appeals; about 75,000 had been filed by late August 2026. That shortfall, not a backlog, is the key unexplained fact. The article weighs its possible causes and proposes reforms the evidence can support.